patent

Microsoft, Nikon ink patent deal for Android-based cameras

Microsoft has signed patent-protection deals with a number of PC and tablet makers in the past couple of years. Now it's also forging similar deals with more companies embedding the Android operating system inside consumer devices.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it has signed a patent-licensing agreement with Nikon. The agreement "provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for certain Nikon cameras running the Android platform," according to Microsoft's press release.

Microsoft and Nikon have agreed not to disclose specifics, but Microsoft is acknowledging that it will receive undisclosed royalties from Nikon as part of the … Read more

Judge orders Apple, Samsung to trim 2014 patent spat

A U.S. District judge today told Apple and Samsung that they need to whittle down a case against one another before it heads to trial early next year.

Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the major U.S. trial between the two companies last year, told both sides that they need to trim down the number of accused products and patent claims in the upcoming case.

"You've already been litigating this thing for a year; you must know something about what's your best case," Koh reportedly told lawyers from both sides.

The ruling, which was … Read more

Apple may be working on new e-book features for iOS

Apple may be working on some new search and highlight features for reading e-books on iPads, Patently Apple reported today.

The company filed a patent application for "creating and viewing digital note cards," according to the application published today (PDF below). The patent outlines technology for a new floating toolbar that allows users to do quick searches of text and enable highlighting and note-taking.

Users would be able to highlight text with various colors or by applying different fonts -- like strike-through font -- and add notes. In addition to text, these notes could include other media such … Read more

Microsoft to back Oracle in Java case against Google -- report

The legal war between Oracle and Google has been rather muted for the last several months, but there could be a major new twist in the case.

Reuters has reported that legal representatives for Microsoft told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a briefing yesterday that it would support Oracle.

We reached out to Oracle to confirm, but the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based corporation declined to comment.

Not many more details are available at this time, but it would seemingly line up with Microsoft's other patent-related lawsuits against Motorola Mobility, now a Google subsidiary. … Read more

ITC to review Apple victory in Motorola patent case

The U.S. International Trade Commission will review an administrative law judge's decision invalidating certain Motorola Mobility patents, which cleared Apple of infringement claims.

The ITC, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S., posted a notice (PDF) to its Web site today indicating it will take a second look at a decision issued in December by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender. Pender dismissed the claims after invalidating a Motorola patent covering proximity sensor technology.

The patent in question covers technology that automatically dims a handset's display when the phone … Read more

Apple granted 36 patents, including for proximity detection

Apple was granted 36 patents today, including one for a proximity sensor for the iPhone and iPad and another for haptic feedback to create a sort of virtual keyboard.

The patents, approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, cover a wide range of technologies, as earlier reported by Patently Apple. The proximity sensor patent, first filed in 2005, covers technology related to detecting one or more touches and differentiating whether the touches are light or hard, among other capabilities.

Another patent relates to electronic media devices and future active packaging that allows power and data to be supplied … Read more

Apple Siri lawsuit against Samsung may be put on hold

A U.S. federal judge presiding over the landmark patent lawsuit between Apple and Samsung may postpone a second Apple patent suit against Samsung until an appeals court renders a decision on the first.

Apple won a $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung last year in a San Jose, Calif., trial, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected the iPhone maker's request for a permanent injunction against sales of offending Samsung devices. A separate lawsuit filed by Apple accuses Samsung of violating a group of patents, including one related to Siri voice search technology.

That second case is … Read more

Obama: We're only halfway there on patent reform

Patent reforms passed last year don't go far enough to fully protect entrepreneurs from software patent holders who try to exploit them, President Barack Obama said today in his fourth annual appearance on YouTube following the State of the Union address.

"We passed some legislation last year, but it hasn't captured all the problems," Obama said during the Google+ Hangout, hosted on YouTube, in response to a question about what the government was doing to promote innovation -- and protect against what the questioner called "patent trolls."

"The folks that you're talking … Read more

Google countersues British Telecom over networking patents

Google said today that it had filed suit against British Telecom in the United States and the United Kingdom claiming patent infringement, just over a year after BT alleged that Google infringed on its intellectual property.

CNET reviewed the U.S. lawsuit, which alleges that BT infringes on four Google patents relating to the transfer of files within a network. The patents at stake in the U.S. suit were acquired by Google from companies including IBM and Fujitsu.

The new filing comes in the wake of BT's December 2011 lawsuit against Google, which alleged that the Mountain View … Read more